Room dividers and partitioning are traditionally made as screens constructed from panels of MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard), particleboard, fibreboard, pressed metal or similar materials. These panels are often covered with padding to allow for papers to be attached to their surface using pins, and to absorb noise in the work environment. The panels usually have an attractive surface covering, such as a layer of woven fabric that can be selected to match the room's décor. The panels are often held in a frame, and can be used to partition an open-space office, or to provide a partial surrounding for desks and workstations to provide some privacy and sound absorption.
These traditional panels are relatively expensive to manufacture, having to be constructed from a number of materials that must be combined and then fixed together. They are also not particularly satisfactory environmentally. Partitioning tends to have to be replaced frequently due to wear and tear or churn, which creates a problem in finding a good method for disposing of the old partitioning materials. The traditional materials are difficult to recycle, as considerable effort is required to separate the components, which often cannot be easily re-used. As a result this rarely happens in practice.
Partitioning is utilised to improve the aesthetics of office presentation, and to provide the workers with some privacy by partially enclosing their work area and absorbing noise. The partitioning can be fixed in place, or be temporary in nature as movable screens that can easily be rearranged. Partitioning and screens can be attached to, combined with, or positioned behind, furniture such as desk, tables, workstation carrels, for example. The screening may be full to provide a wall, or partial to provide only an open barrier. The screens can either fully or partially close off the area between the floor and the ceiling. Furthermore, such partitioning generally has useful acoustic properties to reduce noise in a workspace by providing a sound absorbing buffer between work areas. The partitioning is also often used as pin-boards. Any framework that supports the partition paneling may also be used to support shelves, or similar features.
Traditionally, perhaps the most commonly produced screens employ metal vertical supports configured to hold the edges of adjacent screen panels. A number of panels are arranged in this manner to provide partitioning that partly enclose a work area. Similarly, a line of the panels can be arranged at the front or rear of the work area or behind office furniture.
The panels can be of any suitable size. Partitioning may commonly be one to two meters wide and between one and three meters high. The partitioning is relatively expensive to produce. The panels are generally composed of metal or wood, typically in the form of MDF or other compressed boards or particleboards, where a pair of sheets of the material, such as wood, are cut to appropriate sizes and are arranged opposite each other. A metal frame, cardboard section or dowel or some other type of spacer is used to space the sheets a certain distance apart to define a void between the two wood sheets. The outer surfaces of each wood sheet is then normally painted, or covered with cloth material, or otherwise decorated.
Often, foam backing is used behind the cloth material covering to provide a softer surface and improve the acoustic properties. An edging, often of metal, may then be used to cover the edges of the wood sheets and the recess between them. When cloth is used to cover the surfaces of the wood sheets, the edging conceals the edges of the cloth. The cloth covering is held in place by tacking, stapling or gluing its edges within the recess. The cloth is select to have an attractive colour, for its environment.
These traditional screens are complex to produce because they require many steps, and they are even more complex to mass-produce where constant tolerances are required and considerable human effort is required to assemble the screens from their starting materials. Furthermore, some countries require that a significant portion of the screens is able to be recycled, which is also a desirable feature, anyway. For example, in Japan, 49% of the material comprising the screen needs to be recyclable. This therefore increases the cost of producing the screens, and for processing it once its lifetime is reached in order to recycle its components.
Furthermore the traditional partitioning materials are difficult to shape. The panels made from sheets of wood can only easily be made with a flat surface. It would be advantageous to have partitioning made from materials that can easily be shaped, to include folds, or indents, or the like features in the panels, to enhance their appearance, and to add to the strength of the panels, which normally is the result of shaping the panels in such a manner.
Furthermore there is often a problem arising from the off-gassing of volatile organic compounds from traditional partitioning panels due to the presence of glues and paint finishes. It would therefore be useful to enable partitions to be manufactured without the need for such volatile components to be used in their manufacture.
It would therefore be advantageous to have a partitioning material that is environmentally sound, which can easily be recycled, and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.